subterfuge
Other forms: subterfuges
If you want to surprise your mom with a sweatshirt, but don't know her size, it might take an act of subterfuge, like going through her closet, to find it out. Subterfuge is the use of tricky actions to hide or get something.
It's pronounced "SUB-ter-fyooj." As a countable noun, a subterfuge is a tricky action or device: She employed a very clever subterfuge to get the information she needed. Subterfuge is derived from the Old French suterfuge, which is ultimately from the Latin subterfugere, "to escape," from subter, "secretly, under" plus fugere, "to flee."
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something intended to misrepresent the true nature of an activity
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Vocabulary lists containing subterfuge
Nick Carraway rents a summer house in Long Island where he befriends his mysterious neighbor Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire who hides behind an extravagant and decadent lifestyle.
Let's face it, we all (or at least most of us) lie. Whether you just want to spare someone's feelings or want to get away with something you really shouldn't be doing, people bend the truth on occasion. It's no surprise, then, that there are so many words that describe the telling of untruths. Whether the motivation is malicious or kindhearted, there is a nuanced way to describe it. Here are fifteen words to describe liars and the webs they spin. For the full article, check out Fudging It: A Lexicon of Lies
In September, 1952, Richard Nixon, a young senator from California, was nominated to run for Vice President. Days later, however, he was accused of accepting funds from campaign donors to use for personal expenses. Nixon chose to use the new medium of television to defend himself. In a televised speech, he admitted to receiving one gift — a cocker spaniel named Checkers. He explained that his two young daughters loved the dog and would not give it up. The speech was a tremendous success, and Nixon went on to serve two terms as Vice President. Ironically, another television performance, a debate with John Kennedy in 1960, cost him the election that year. Nixon was elected President in 1968, but ultimately resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal.